1994 Phil Kubicki/Chip Wilson Koa Headless Fretless Electric Bass Guitar
Tone: Honestly, between the active controls and the Basslines/Stingray-style pickup, you can dial-in just about whatever sound you want from this. With everything set "about medium" it's got a full, round, clean sound with plenty of definition and punch.
Feel: The neck is quick and easy with a Jazz Bass sort-of feel -- a 1 1/2" nut width and slim-medium C-shaped rear with a tight, 7 1/4" vintage Fender radius to the board. I love that feel because I learned on a neck that felt almost identical to this. The body is surprisingly-ergonomic and stands-out from the crowd.
Interesting features: This is where the story gets wonderful! It's actually a pretty fascinating bass. The owner ordered the neck and bridge directly from Phil Kubicki and then had Chip Wilson make a koa(!) body of his design to match it. The neck is super-multi-lam maple (and spot-on stable) with an ebony fingerboard and has odd, "reverse dots" for marking "fret" locations on the side of the neck (bigger on 2 and 4 and smaller on 3 and 5, so to speak). The bridge design is excellent and features knob-adjusted tuners that "roll" the strings up to pitch. There's an "upright-side" thumbrest and a Duncan Basslines pickup is installed along with a Musicman preamp kit with volume, bass, mid, and treble controls.
Repairs included: I gave it a light cleaning and adjusted the setup a bit. It's good to go and playing spot-on. The owner currently has roundwound strings set for BEAD tuning but it can be restrung and adjusted per the desires of the next owner.
- Maker: Kubicki/Wilson
- Model: N/A
- Body style: completely its own
- Weight: 9 lbs 11 oz
- Scale length: 34"
- Nut width: 1 1/2"
- Neck shape: slim-medium C
- Board radius: 7 1/4"
- Body width: 12"
- Body depth: 1 3/4"
- Body wood: Hawaiian koa with light/medium figure
- Bridge: Kubicki headless/custom
- Fretboard: ebony
- Neck wood: multi-lam maple
- Pickups: 1x Basslines Stringray-style
- Action height at 12th fret: 3/32" bass to 1/16" treble (fast, spot-on)
- String gauges: 130w-60w or similar
- Truss rod: adjustable
- Neck relief: straight
- Fret style: fretless
Condition notes: It shows some minor wear and tear along the edges from decades of use as a gigging bass. Overall, though, it looks grand and is in good order and all original to itself. There may be small scuffs/scratches here and there in the finish throughout but it's not obvious.
It comes with: A gigbag.
Consignor tag: HB
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